COMC Black Friday: 2003 - 2005 Browns; and Christmas packs 30 - 32

Continuing on with my COMC order, we're getting into the time period where they should be getting competitive after rejoining the league in 1999. The Browns made the playoffs in 2002, and hopes were high that they would continue to improve.

Top (l-r): 2003 Bowman Chrome - Refractors #47 (#/500); 2003 Playoff Prestige - Reunion #15 (#/2002)

Bottom: 2003 Upper Deck Pros & Prospects - The Power & the Potential #PP29 (#/1700)

Cards of young returning players for the 2003 team. Still lots of hope.

L-R: 2003 Fleer Authentix - Balcony #126 (#/250); Playoff Hogg Heaven #152 (#/1000); 2003 Ultra #168

The 2003 NFL Draft added Lee Suggs from Virginia Tech in the fourth round. He played three seasons with the Browns, and my memories of him are that he looked good when he played but couldn't stay healthy.

L-R: 2003 Bowman Chrome - Refractors #165 (#/500); 2003 SP Signature #103 (#/750)

Chaun Thompson was the Browns second round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft out of West Texas A&M. He ended up playing five years, and was a starter for most of his second and third years with the team, but I believe that he made more of an impact on special teams during his stint with the Browns. I think most people hoped for more from a second round pick.

Nate Hybl was signed as an undrafted free agent from Oklahoma but didn't play in the regular season for the Browns. In a previous post where I showed one of his cards, Tony at Off-Hiatus Baseball Cards left a comment saying that Nate Hybl had opened a restaurant in Atlanta.

Off of their playoff season of 2002, the Browns slipped to 5-11 and have not been to the playoffs since.

L-R: 2004 Fleer Sweet Sigs #98 (#/999); 2004 Topps Pristine #103 (#/999); 2004 Topps Pristine #104 (#/499)

The 2004 season brought with it excitement around the sixth pick of the NFL Draft, Kellen Winslow Jr.

The season started strong with a season opening win at home against the Ravens, but then Kellen Winslow broke his leg in their second game in Dallas. After six weeks the Browns were at 3-3 before losing the next nine games. They won their final game of the year to finish at 4-12.

Oh, and that opening day win? It remains the only opening day win since the Browns returned to the league in 1999.

Top (l-r): 2004 Playoff Absolute #32 (#/1150); #33 (#/1150); #34 (#/1150)

Bottom (l-r): 2004 Playoff Absolute #36 (#/1150); #37 (#/1150)

I had a bunch of the Retail versions of these cards but only owned one of the regular hobby version before this COMC order. I really liked the color refraction that the scanner gave these cards.

L-R: 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity - Ruby #23 (#/250); 2004 SPx #154 (#/1650)

The scanner added more colors to the Garcia ruby parallel. This one doesn't quite look as good with the scan.

Joe Echema was the simplified name of Nigerian born Adimchinobe Echemandu. Of the ten different cards I own of him, this is the second that has the Echema name on it. He was a seventh round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. He played one year with the Browns, carried the ball 8 times for 25 yards, and had 3 receptions for 25 yards.

Top (l-r): 2005 Donruss Throwback Threads - Rookie Hoggs #RH-3 (#/750); 2005 Upper Deck Reflections #134 (#/899)

Bottom (l-r): 2005 Playoff Contenders - Playoff Ticket #23 (#/199); 2005 Playoff Honors - X's #23 (#/299)

The top two cards show the Browns first two draft picks from the 2005 NFL Draft. Both played with the Browns into the 2009 season, and both were with the Jets for the 2010 season. In my collection, however, there is a big difference. I currently own 275 different Braylon Edwards cards, third in my collection behind Tim Couch and Kevin Johnson, and I expect him to pass Johnson sometime soon. As for Brodney Pool, I have 9 different cards, and the Trading Card Database only lists 81 cards made of him.

I really liked Pool as a Safety, and was disappointed when the Browns didn't re-sign him after the 2009 season.

----------

The Christmas baseball packs here are similar to last post's packs - same set, different series. We have three packs to show of 1992 Stadium Club Series 3.

Pack 1:

Okay, these cards aren't what I think of when I think of Stadium Club cards. All but the Dewey photos appear to be posed.

I'm happy to see two Mets cards, but unfortunately McKnight died young a few years ago from leukemia.

More posed photos, except for Sid Fernandez. Nice to see another Met in here.

Nice to see photos that aren't posed. Sad to see another person that passed too early with Darryl Kile. The Keith Miller card was damaged - the dent you see on the left of the card is almost a cut all the way through it.

Bob Walk? I think I've heard of him, but I don't know if I recognize him in the photo on the card. I thought he was supposed to have some sort of mustache.

Pack 2:

This pack stuck together more than the other Stadium Club cards that I opened. And some of the cards are misprinted - Joyner's name is down at the edge of the card, and the foil Stadium Card printing is covering Turner Ward and Randy Myers' first names.

Interesting that I got Joyner in both Series 1 and Series 3.

As I've been doing these Christmas packs, I've been scanning them as I open the packs, and have been doing each of them by types. I originally opened all five Stadium Club packs together but then realized that I didn't want to post all of them together. Unfortunately, I mixed up the second batch of cards from the second pack from Series One and Three and posted these cards yesterday. I have corrected yesterday's post with the proper cards, and moved my comments for the cards above from my last post to this post, that being: Not a great selection of photos on these cards.

Nothing really jumps out at me among these five cards.

Pack 3:

I find it weird to see Gregg Jefferies in a Royals uniform.

Four doubles in these five cards.

At first I thought I the Chuck Knoblauch card might be some sort of parallel with the Member's Choice on the bottom, but then I found that it was just a subset in the base set. Silly me, I forgot that this might be a little early for the parallel age.

It was nice to open the Stadium Club cards but I forgot about how much some of the cards from then stick together now. I know that I had that problem with so many of the football cards I had packed away.

COMC Black Friday: 1999 - 2002 Browns; and Christmas packs 28 & 29

There are still Browns cards to show from the early expansion years after showing individual players in my earlier posts so we'll get to those now.

Top (l-r): 1999 Collector's Edge First Place - Gold Ingot #36; - Gold Ingot #37

Bottom (l-r): 1999 Score - Showcase #145 (#/1989); - Showcase #143 (#/1989)

Still chasing parallels from 1999.

Collector's Edge First place set had six parallels. Yes, that is a lot less than many modern sets, but I think it is still too many. 1999 Score only had two parallels. That seems so much more reasonable.

All three players above only played the 1999 season with the Browns, with Detmer being injured for the 2000 season before being traded to Detroit, and Kirby moving on to play three years with Oakland.

Top (l-r): 2000 Bowman Reserve - Rookie Autographs #TP; 2000 Playoff Absolute #177 (#/3000)

Bottom (l-r): 2000 Playoff Momentum #115 (#/750); 2000 Topps Gallery - Player's Private Issue #172 (#/250)

The Browns picked Dennis Northcutt out of Arizona with the first pick of the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played ten years in the NFL, seven with the Browns followed by two with the Jaguars and one with the Lions.

Travis Prentice was selected with the first pick of the third round out of Miami (Ohio). He rushed for 512 yards and 7 touchdowns in his rookie season before being traded to the Vikings just before the 2001 season.

Top: 2000 Quantum Leaf - Rookie Revolution #RR-13 (#/5000)

Bottom: 2000 SPx #141 (#/2000)

Some pretty rare serial numbered cards there! I say that, but really, although I pull a lot of serial numbered cards now, and that are in lower quantities than these, it isn't as though I'm pulling the Browns that I want. I'm happy to find these on the secondary market.

Top: 2001 Fleer Premium #237 (#/2001)

Bottom: 2001 Pacific Titanium - Post-Season Football #P25 (#/795)

The Browns drafted James Jackson from the Miami Hurricanes in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft.

I really like the die-cut Pacific card with the helmet in the background.

Top: 2001 Pacific Vanguard - V-Team Rookies #8 (#/999)

Bottom: 2001 SAGE - Autographs Bronze #A32 (#/650)

Quincy Morgan was selected out of Kansas State in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He was traded to the Cowboys for Antonio Bryant midway during his fourth season.

L: 2001 Topps Chrome - Refractors #148 (#/999); 2001 Upper Deck Rookie F/X #160

The 2001 Upper Deck Rookie F/X set is a pretty annoying one. Cards in the set duplicate other Upper Deck styles - this one copies the Upper Deck Victory set. I'm thankful that there are resources like The Trading Card Database to help sort things out.

Aaron Shea wore number 80 for the Browns from 2000-2003 before switching to number 83 for 2004 and 2005 after new 2004 first round pick Kellen Winslow bought the number from him for an undisclosed amount that was less than $20,000.

Top: 2002 Fleer Maximum #254 (#/3500)

Middle: 2002 Fleer Premium - All-Rookie Team #2 AR

Bottom: 2002 SPx #144 (#/1500)

William Green was the Browns first round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft out of Boston College. He played four seasons with the Browns before being released after coming to agreement on an injury settlement with the team following the 2006 training camp.

(L-R): 2002 Fleer Premium #165 (#/1250); 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Action Packed Bronze #10 (#/1850)

I used to really like Action Packed cards. At least this insert card has the raised player photo and rounded corners like the original set but it just isn't the same.

Top (l-r): 2002 Donruss Elite - College Ties #CT-10 (#/1600); 2002 Pacific #498

Bottom: 2002 Fleer Maximum #284 (#/3500)

As can be seen in the College Ties card, André Davis was a teammate of Michael Vick at Virginia Tech. He was drafted by the Browns in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft.

Davis is one of the receivers tied for the NFL record for longest reception with a 99 yard touchdown reception against the Bengals on October 17, 2004.

L-R: 2002 Topps Pristine #99; - Refractors #100 (#/499)

Something that may be interesting to other card collectors. In the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft, the Browns drafted linebacker Andra Davis of Florida. There are times that I have to be careful as to whether I need the Andra or André Davis cards. I also find that I sometimes mix the two when I'm sorting cards by player.

Left: 2002 Fleer Premium - Star Ruby #SR11 (#/100)

Middle: 2002 Pacific Crown Royale - Blue #36 (#/175)

Right: 2002 Topps Reserve #59 (#/999)

 If you look carefully, you will see the blue foil in the top right on the middle Crown Royale card.

L-R: 2002 Pacific Private Stock Titanium - Red #26 (#/275); 2002 Topps Chrome - Refractors #84 (#/599)

I like the way that you sometimes get a nice glow while scanning chrome refractors.

----------

Today's Christmas baseball packs brings us two packs of...

...1992 Stadium Club Series 1!

Let's see what I get!

Pack 1:

Seeing the O'Brien card as the first card in the pack was great. A Mets catcher in a play at the plate, is there much better than that? Well, maybe the ball could be in his glove. Pictures like this one is what I remember Stadium Club for.

I really like the Braggs photo, and like the Biggio and Fryman photos, but wish that they were all cropped out just a bit. I'd like to see Braggs' extended foot and the full bats on the Biggio and Fryman cards.

 More enjoyable photos. I think I remember seeing Gross start a game for the Expos in Montreal.

Wow, Todd Hundley sure looks young. Love the photo on the Hoiles card.

Of course, Stadium Club had a feature on their backs that I always flipped over to see.

I loved seeing the rookie card on the back.

If you wondered about the BARS chart on the back, well this pack took care of that. This card was also inserted in the pack.

Pack 2:

The Stieb photo is a little boring, but he was a great pitcher for the Jays. I like the Karkovice photo.

Out of these cards, I like the Wally Joyner photo sliding into home best.

Ramon Martinez sure twists his body in his delivery.

I don't remember seeing many photos completely in the profile as on the Bud Black card. There probably are many but I like the photo.

Sean Berry was traded to the Expos during the 1992 season and was part of their very talented 1994 team.

The insert in this pack was for the Topps Stadium Club Membership.

I never joined.

I think based on players and photos the first pack was the better of the two.

I should only have three more posts to go with Christmas baseball packs. Posting them here has made opening them more enjoyable and made me give more thought to the cards than I would have had I opened them all on Christmas Day.

Doug Pederson, 2018 Topps and Christmas pack 27

(I originally typed this up on February 6th but then lent my laptop to my sister for ten days or so and didn't actually post this.)

Congratulations to Super Bowl winning coach Doug Pederson!

2001 Pacific #109

I have two Browns cards of Doug Pederson in my collection from his stint as a backup to Tim Couch in 2000. After Tim Couch was injured in a Week 7 game, Pederson started 8 games for the Browns over the rest of the season. He became the third Browns starter of the expansion Browns.

I love this Pacific card in the snow.

2001 NFL Showdown 1st Edition #111

I actually bought the NFL Showdown game when it first came out. I never played it. I do appreciate some of the players that they included on each team.

Wasn't it fun watching all those Eagles fans with their dog masks. If only some other team had thought of that.

1992 Pro Set #682

----------

I usually buy a baseball pack or two to look at, and see what's new. (Yeah, I know, I can see that on all those other blogs.) I stopped into a Walmart when I picked up my mail at my PO Box in Ogdensburg yesterday, and picked up a value box of 2018 Topps.

Here are the cards from the box that I enjoyed, and the inserts.

The Abreu card was my first Topps card of the year.

I like the Merrifield card, but wish that Topps just showed a little more of the picture - like the whole glove and ball, and the feet.

I also like hat tips and catchers, those photos jumped out at me. I like the bubble that Rupp is blowing.

I think that everyone likes the Hamilton card.

Judge and Stanton. Think we will hear their names paired together much this year? With the League Leader cards, I wish they had put what they led the league in somewhere on the front of the card. This is Stanton's RBI leader card.

All the horizontal cards in my pack were grouped together. I wanted the d'Arnaud card the minute that I saw it posted for the first time, and not just because I am a Mets and a catcher fan. It is just such a cool shot!

Some nice diving cards in the set.

Cool base-running card of Conforto. I hope he comes back strong and stays healthy this year.

I really like the photo of Rich Hill, but wish that the logo and name didn't block his glove and leg.

I am happy that the Mets re-signed Jay Bruce. I wonder how much first base he'll wind up playing this year.

On to the inserts:

The top foil card is the only non-insert parallel that I got.

A third Met in the box. I'll take it, although I don't think the insert itself is all that attractive.

The Memorial Day insert would be my favorite of these. Could it be because I can actually see game background on the card?

The box said that I would get two Kris Bryant insert cards.

I got three, one of which I imagine is a blue parallel. Not a fan of parallels of inserts. At least I don't have to collect these.

All in all, I prefer this year's set over the last couple, but like a lot of other bloggers, I think that I would prefer that the flagship Topps set have borders.

----------

I'm still working on the Christmas baseball packs that I received. Today we have...

...1992 Score Series 2!

 I didn't buy much of this set when it came out, but I like the looks of it now.

Those bottom two prospects are pretty nice. I had forgotten that Lofton started with the Astros.

I always loved looking at the minor league stats on the back of the cards. I learned where various farm teams were

I remember Gil Heredia after his trade to Montreal, and then seeing him pitch in AAA for the Ottawa Lynx.

I might not have bought a lot of 92 Score when it came out, but I remember that I did own that Frank Thomas Dream Team card.

Nice to finish with a final catcher's card in this group.

I think the Lofton is probably my favorite card in the pack.